mash, v. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

mash v.

[SE mash, to crush, to pulp, hence sexually to render ‘soft’; note Rom. mash, to allure, to entice]

1. to make oneself attractive to a member of the opposite sex, to flirt with, to succeed in seduction; thus mashing

1824		History of Gaming Houses & Gamesters 57: He was obliged to cut, on account of his having dropped a certain gambling brewer in a duel, a termination to his mashing career.
1879		implied in mashing
1881		Bulletin (Sydney) 5 Feb. 3/3: He ‘spoons’ with Tilly, ‘mashes’ Milly, / ‘Kills’ Jemima Ann; / Then off he walks, and glibly talks / ‘How girls do dote on man!’.
1884		Sporting Times 15 Nov. 1/5: A grand opportunity for one or two hitherto unnoticed chorus girls to come to the front and mash two mashers at once — one with each eye.
1885		‘High School Sl.’ in N.Y. Dispatch 31 May 7: Did you catch on to the dude I mashed?
1889		R.W. Coan ‘In The Future’ 🎵 IIf you want to mash a ‘tart’ upon the sly, / Before you kissie-kissie, be sure that she’s a Missie.
1889		Music Hall & Theatre Rev 2 Mar. 43/1: [W]hen they [i.e. female singers] were not on the stage they were expected to be in front making themselves agreeable—in fact, ‘mashing’ the customers.
1890		Kipling ‘The Story of the Gadbsys’ Soldiers Three (1907) 129: Hullo, Gaddy! ’Been trotting out the Gorgonzola! We all thought it was the Gorgon you’re mashing.
1893		J. Tabrar [perf. Marie Lloyd] Buy Me Some Almond Rock 🎵 I’ll mash the men, nine out of ten / Oh, won’t it be a lark.
1894		Truth (Sydney) 25 Feb. 1/4: Well, your worship, whin I arrested him [...] he was thryin’ to mash a wax woman in a dintist’s windy.
1894		Wichita Dly Eagle 22 May 4/5: Don’t look like ye’d been in an orchard [...] Looks more like ye’d been a-mashing the gals.
1900		‘Doss Chiderdoss’ ‘Sisters’, Sporting Times 14 July 1/4: He vowed, ‘I’ll see this through— / If I can’t mash her, I’ll mash her sister!’.
1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 3 Apr. 1/2: Curling the point of his ‘mo’ and trying to mash a dainty bit of muslin that was passing by.
1906		E. Dyson ‘Benno’s Little Boshter’ Fact’ry ’Ands 8: I may be wrong in thinkin’ your tom was tryin’ t’ mash ther man shootin’ off ther camera.
1912		E. Pugh Harry The Cockney 151: Until we encountered two girls we had met and spoken with on some former occasion – all the girls and all the boys hunted in couples – or had the luck to mash [...] a new pair.
1913		Sport (Adelaide) 15 Feb. 11/3: They Say [...] That Onion S was seen down the Semaphore mashing the Murphys.
1916		J. Lait ‘If a Party Meet a Party’ in Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 98: If I ever ketch you annoyin’ this here young lady again or mashin’ on my beat I’ll bust your nut and I’ll run you in.
1919		Dundee Courier 1 Nov. 8/3: You motto is ‘San Fairy Ann,’ / Your mission is to cheer. / And every Johnny mashing by / Will smile and lok your way.
1929		E. Dahlberg Bottom Dogs 36: She said he was only trying to mash and that he was a big josher.
1933		Robert Edwards ‘The Peril of Sheridan Square’ 🎵 She hoped to mash some guy with cash.
1955		P. Larkin ‘Places, Loved Ones’ Less Deceived 16: Yet, having missed them, you’re / Bound, none the less, to act / As if what you settled for / Mashed you, in fact.
1959		E. De Roo Young Wolves 31: He can dribble and shoot with both hands! Yeah, Roy scoffed, and mash a guy’s sister.
1977		S. Berkoff East in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 57: I could mash thee into.

2. (US) to beat someone up; to crush.

1833		C.A. Davis Letters of Major J. Downing (1835) 76: The crowd was so great, I was eny most mashed to a slab.
1845		W.T. Thompson Chronicles of Pineville 122: Old Harley [...] kicked up a terrible rumpus, and skeered the horse, and upset the cart, and like to mashed every thing all to flinders.
1853		J.G. Baldwin Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi 310: You must mash Sam Boyd and Jo Holt into Scotch snuff; and you’ll do it, too.
1866		C.H. Smith Bill Arp 176: Our enemies were a-shoutin, ‘Hit him, kick him, mash him, smash him agin’.
1873		J. O’Connor Wanderings of a Vagabond 286: With them, a face was a ‘mug’ to be ‘mashed;’ a man, a lay figure to be sent to ‘grass’ [...] by a blow from their sledgehammer fists.
1884		(con. c.1840) ‘Mark Twain’ Huckleberry Finn 325: We couldn’t keep her from falling over, and she come mighty near mashing us.
1891		A. Day Mysterious Beggar 333: Oh you old snoozer! [...] Wouldn’t I mash yer ugly strawberry mug!
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 18 Jan. 36/1: I see your bright eyes flashin’ – / The old cabildo where / They fined me stiff for mashin’ / Some Dagoes with a chair!
1911		Day Book (Chicago) 27 Nov. 10/1: George Potato [...] arrested for trying to mash girls on the street.
1913		Sport (Adelaide) 21 June 9/2: They Say [...] That Reg T., the girl charmer, reckons he can mash any girl now that he has his new overcoat.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 63: Didn’ you say ’e’d make a bug sorry ’e was masheeshing around in the same bed with ’im?
1917		R. Lardner ‘Three Kings and a Pair’ Gullible’s Travels 74: ‘Well,’ says Fred, ‘this’ll learn you a lesson, you old masher, you!’ ‘I’ll mash you in a minute,’ says Veto, but the way he was now, he couldn’t of mashed turnips.
1926		E. Walrond Tropic Death (1972) 65: Keep outa this, if you don’t want to get your goddam head mashed in.
1930		G. Milburn ‘The Dealer Gets It All’ Hobo’s Hornbook 150: He tapped me on the dingus – and mashed me on the dome.
1949		J.H. Burns Lucifer with a Book 260: He mashed out his cigarette.
1951		Kerouac On the Road (The Orig. Scroll) (2007) 263: Let’s go mash somebody on the head and get his money.
1954		K. Amis letter 13 Nov. in Leader (2000) 413: ‘Mashed you’ means ‘fucked you up’, does it?
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 81: If a man gets wise, mash his face.
1975		T. Rhone School’s Out I i: I mashed a lady on her toe.
1985		J. Wambaugh Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 58: He nearly caused two collisions as cars mashed on their brakes to avoid killing a uniformed cop.
1997		‘Q’ Deadmeat 154: Im couldn’t live dat down, if ah lef affta mashin im breadda.
1999		Dr Dre ‘Some L.A. Shit’ 🎵 But I grew up where niggaz jack you, harass you / Blast you, for that set you claim (where you from?) / Mash on you for your turkish chain, C.K. B.K.
2001		K. Sampson Outlaws (ms.) 41: Some mad fellas come round and mashed us.
2006		G. Malkani Londonstani (2007) 3: Call me or any a ma bredrens a Paki again an I’ma mash u.

3. (US black) to give one what is due; thus mash it on me, give it to me; mash me a fin, loan me $5.

1944		D. Burley Orig. Hbk of Harlem Jive 143: Mash me — Give me.
1946		Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues 218: Seventh cat: Mash me a trey gate, so’s I can go bust my conk.
1969		‘Iceberg Slim’ Mama Black Widow 163: I’m gonna mash it [i.e. a $5 debt] on you next time you show.
1976		Cab Calloway Of Minnie the Moocher and Me 182: And if I ever did melt out I’d just blase’ up and say, ‘Mash me a fin, gate’.
1983		R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

4. (W.I.) to seduce, to rape.

1958

cited in Cassidy & LePage Dict. Jam. Eng. (1980).

5. (US) to masturbate.

1970

E. Thompson Garden of Sand (1981) 280: He sat there with a peewee hard-on, secretly mashing it, skinning it back through his dungarees.

6. (US black) to pass over stolen or contraband goods.

1983

R. Klein Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.].

7. (US campus) to kiss, to neck.

1989		J. Doyle College Sl. Dict. 🌐 mash [U. of Ill. at U-C] to kiss, neck, make out, etc.
1997–2000		College Sl. Research Project (Cal. State Poly. Uni., Pomona) 🌐 Mash (verb) To make out; anything from kissing to oral sex, but not intercourse.
2016		T. Robinson Rough Trade [ebook] The two stopped mashing on each other.

8. (US black) to work hard, to commit oneself to a task.

1985		G. Tate Flyboy in the Buttermilk (1992) 35: That boy has got energy up his asshole. I mean, he don’t just stand there, he don’t just make it, he mashes.
1998		Source Nov. 112: He mashes, he rides, and he gets his paper. He stays down on the business end of this.
1999		Dr Dre ‘Some L.A. Shit’ 🎵 It don’t stop, we still mash in hot pursuit from the cops / Analyze why we act this way – in L.A.!
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 26: Theys too busy mashin in an out of all the rooms in my home, clearin them one at a time.
2017		Harlem Spartans ‘Kennington Where It Started’ 🎵 Mashing ain't dead man cook good.

9. to fondle the breasts in an aggressive manner.

1999

Roger’s Profanisaurus 3 in Viz 98 Oct. 19: mash v. To fondle a lady’s baps in a very eager fashion, as if testing them to destruction.

10. (US black) to have sexual intercourse in an aggressive manner.

2000		Ebonics Primer at www.dolemite.com 🌐 mash Definition: to have sex. Example: I was mashing this fine ass girl the other day.
2017		theculturetrip.com ‘Guide to London Slang 10 Jan. 🌐 Mashing – hard rough sex.

In derivatives

mashful (adj.)

(N.Z.) amorous.

1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 6 Mar. 1/1: A toney Terrace family have dispensed with the mashful music teacher.
1908		Sun. Times (Perth) 4 Oct. 1/1: His canoodle with the mashful madam was observed by only a few.

mashing (n.)

1. the act of flirting, seducing, making advances; also attrib.

1879		Cincinnati Enquirer 7 Sept. 10/7: Masher, Mash, Mashing—This is the order in which they should be classed. The masher can be either male or female, traveling on their beauty, shape or talent, and sometimes on all three. The mash is the party willing to be mashed, and who is generally made to pay for the pleasure of the mash in a good round sum. Mashing is the attempt of both to succeed in their object.
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 16 Oct. 14/2: If you want to see som,e real, genuine, through-paced ‘mashing’ done, just [...] fix your eyes for a time on the ‘boss’. He is always at it.
1882		G.W. Peck Peck’s Sunshine 130: There has got to be two parties to a mashing match, and one must be a woman.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 23 Aug. 14/4: The heart of the hub. who goes mashing, / Away from his home and his hearth, / Turns cold when the missis is flashing / Her eyes in connubial wrath.
1894		Richard Henry ‘The Man With the Mashing Eye’ 🎵 To escape from me in vain they try. Aye! aye! [...] I’m the Man with the Mashing Eye.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 48: Mashing,‘going to do a mash,’ to parade the streets for show and forming the acquaintance of some admirer.
1900		Sporting Times 9 June 1/4: This life that I am leading [...] this mixture of mashing and mafficking is slowly but surely knocking me out.
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 14 Feb. 1/1: He informs his friends that ‘mashing goes better with music’!
1922		R. McAlmon ‘Backslider’ A Hasty Bunch 5: The good man however touched upon the subject of mashing, and street flirtation.
1937		D.L. Sayers Busman’s Honeymoon (1974) 334: His bowler was not the bowler of Wednesday morning, but of the mashing curly-brimmed pattern affected by young bloods of the nineties.
2000		M. Manning Get Your Cock Out 60: Dandelion was always flattered by these mashing displays, taking it [i.e. genital exposure] as a compliment.

2. used adv., affecting the style of a masher n. (2)

1884

Sporting Times 15 Nov. 2/2: His mission has been accepted as being to belong to a club, to ride in the Row, to look mashing, and make a call or two in Belgravia.

In compounds

mashman (n.)

(UK black) a thug.

2006

DJ Cameo 1Xtra 3 June [BBC radio] You can be a mashman, but you can’t scare anyone but baby badmen.

mash-up

see separate entries.

In phrases

mash into a cocked hat (v.)

see knock into a cocked hat under knock into v.

mash it (up) (v.) (also mosh it up)

1. (W.I., Rasta/UK black) to achieve a huge success; to do something well.

1986		R. Hewitt White Talk Black Talk 118: Mi com fe mash it up-a!
1990		L. Goodison Baby Mother and King of Swords 55: Nobody had ever seen anybody ‘mash it up’ like that so; nobody had ever seen anybody in such a glorious temper ‘mash up the place to blow wow’.
2001		(con. 1981) A. Wheatle East of Acre Lane 183: Yardman Irie was moshing it up ’pon de mic.

2. (W.I.) an expression of encouragement.

1995

Francis-Jackson Official Dancehall Dict. 33: Mash it an expression of encouragement: u. mash it, star/break a leg.

mash the fat (v.)

(US black) to have sexual intercourse.

1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 153: Expressions for intercourse, to grind, to pile, to mash the fat.
1997		Solar Project ‘Zeitgest’ 🎵 on ...in Time [album] We honk for cookies, we knock it out / We mash the fat, we mess around / Jig-a-jig, rub-a-dub, dead shot, Donald Duck / You wanna feel my Bethlehem steel / Mary Poppins, TNT, Bristol City / I bite into your cats and kitties.

mash up (v.) (also mash in)

1. (orig. US/W.I.) to destroy, to break, to beat up, of a relationship, to break up.

1873		C. Rampini Letters from Jamaica 124: Don Hawk spring ’pon Ground Dove and [...] mash him up wid him beak.
1925		Dos Passos Manhattan Transfer 123: I mashed his head in with the grubbinhoe, mashed it in like when you kick a rotten punkin.
1934		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 256: Young Rocky Kansas interrupted to tell how he had mashed in a big baboon.
1941		A. Mendes ‘Afternoon in Trinidad’ in Lehmann Penguin New Writing No. 6 81: If anybody, de Gubnor of de colony hisself, hit me like dat, I mash up his face.
1942		L. Bennett ‘Greens’ Jamaica Dialect Verses 24: Me full up a sarrow an strife / For me go a wan Dacta todah day / An’ de man neally mash up me life.
1956		S. Selvon Lonely Londoners 122: Two sports catch a fellar hiding behind some bushes with a flash camera in his hand they mash up the camera and beat the fellar.
1968		A. Salkey Late Emancipation of Jerry Stover (1982) 195: If we don’t take self-interes’ in earnes’, we goin’ mash up like drop’ breadfruit.
1979		E. Lovelace Dragon Can’t Dance (1998) 63: If you try to put me out this band, I going to mash up every pan.
1980		(con. 1950s) M. Thelwell Harder They Come 107: Ah beg you try no mash up me mango.
1983		V. Bloom ‘Carry-Go-Bring-Come’ in Touch Mi, Tell Mi 32: Den a true yuh an Charlie mash up?
1992		V. Headley Yardie 44: Dem will mash up your life.
2005		H. Mantel Beyond Black 107: Hear Keef got mashed up last night.
2011		J. Cornish Attack the Block [film script] 57: They mash up my whip with a bully van they stole, then bare more youngers come on peds with swords and bats.
2016		A. Wheatle Crongton Knights 30: He mashed up Festus Livingstone.
2017		15 Jamaican Patois Phrases online 9 Feb. 🌐 Mi mash up mi fone means I’ve broken my phone [...] Even road signs will advise drivers to mash up yuh brakes. meaning slow down.

2. (W.I.) to get oneself into trouble.

1979

T. Rhone Old Story Time I i: She mash up bad.

3. (W.I.) to cause trouble.

1950		Bennett, Clarke & Wilson Anancy Stories and Dialect Verse 32: Poor Patto! Is Anancy mash up him life.
1979		T. Rhone Old Story Time I i: What a way she mash up!

mash with (v.)

(US campus) to kiss, to neck.

1989

P. Munro Sl. U.

SE in slang uses

In phrases

mash flat (v.) [mashing the accelerator pedal]

(W.I.) to move along, to make room, as in a crowded bus; also to accelerate a car.

1966

(con. 1940s) L. Bennett ‘Mash Flat’ Jamaica Labrish 216: All of a sudden one nedda man / Halla out loud, ‘Mash flat!’ [...] ‘Bout mash flat, mine how ye talks!’ / Him grab me an fling me slap out o’ de bus.

mash the gas (v.)

(US) to accelerate.

1969		G. Solberg Sheila 70: I cramp the wheel, flicking into low, and mash the gas. Scrrech- rrrangg!!!
1985		F. Barthelme Chroma 31: I mash the gas and spin the wheels, so we’re kind of lurching down the street.
2005		K. Curtis Bird Flies to God 32: I mash the gas. My Caddy slices through the twilight but I can’t ditch those menacing headlights.
2012		‘Dutch’ ? (Pronounced Que) [ebook] The shot that burst through the window aimed for his head penetrated the headrest, making Shameeq duck and mash the gas.